acre

noun

ˈā-kər 

1

a

archaic : a field especially of arable land or pastureland

b

acres plural : lands, estate

2

: any of various units of area

specifically : a unit in the U.S. and England equal to 43,560 square feet (4047 square meters) see Weights and Measures Table

3

: a broad expanse or great quantity

acres of free publicity

Examples of acre in a Sentence

The house sits on two acres of land.

They own hundreds of acres of farmland.

Recent Examples on the Web

Goodwin Park Goodwin Park makes up 237 acres in the south end and extends into Wethersfield at 1192 Maple Ave. —Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2025

Brighton already earned approval from the City Council in January to build the South Meridian store, along with 126 more acres of commercial and residential development, but Costco’s designs weren’t available at the time. —Rose Evans july 4, Idaho Statesman, 4 July 2025

The former Washington Park United Church of Christ building on 0.43 acre at 400-420 S. Williams St. was sold by that congregation in February for $4 million. —Matthew Geiger, Denver Post, 4 July 2025

The developer closed on the site in late May, Charlotte Business Journal reported, purchasing 12 acres for $4.6 million. —Charlotte Observer, 4 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aker, acre, going back to Old English æcer, going back to Germanic *akraz (whence also, with k geminate in West Germanic, Old Saxon akkar "field," Old High German ackar, Old Norse akr "arable land," Gothic akrs "field"), going back to Indo-European *h₂eǵros, whence also Latin ager, "piece of land, field," Greek agrós, Sanskrit ájrah

Note: This Indo-European noun is traditionally linked to the verbal base *h₂eǵ- "drive (cattle, etc.)" (see agent), on the assumption that *h₂eǵ-ros originally meant "pasture," "fallow land," onto which the cattle were driven, and later developed other senses, as "cultivated field." The semantic plausibility of such a derivation has recently been questioned, however.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing acre

• acre-foot
• acre-inch
• God's acre

Rhymes for acre

• automaker
• boilermaker
• cabinetmaker
• coffeemaker
• troublemaker
• undertaker
• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker

Kids Definition

acre

noun

ˈā-kər 

1

plural : property consisting of land : estate

2

: a unit of area equal to 43,560 square feet (about 4047 square meters) see measure

Etymology

Old English æcer "field, cultivated land"

Geographical Definition

Acre 1 of 2

geographical name (1)

ˈä-krē  -(ˌ)krā 

state in western Brazil bordering on Peru and Bolivia; capital Rio Branco area 59,343 square miles (153,698 square kilometers), population 733,559

Acre

2 of 2

geographical name (2)

ˈä-kər 

ˈā-kər,

ˈä-krə 

variants or Hebrew ʽAkko or Old Testament Accho

ˈä-kō 

ˈā-

or New Testament Ptolemaïs

ˌtä-lə-ˈmā-əs 

city and port at the head of a bay on the Mediterranean Sea north of Mount Carmel in northwestern Israel population 37,400